Somewhere the Clock is Ticking
by Xrange
Summary: She watches as every second drips off her fingertips. She should have never fallen in love. Not when she's in a fight against time, not when her fate is set. But it had felt so right. Maybe this time, there would be someone to catch her fall, someone to change her fate. AU YukixFemRyo plus FujixOC!


CHAPTER 1

_Come, my child. It is time. Time for what, Ryoma wonders, but the lady in front of her doesn't reply. The lady smiles and suddenly Ryoma is plunged into this deep hole that never seems to end. Her hair whips around her, the wind escaping her grasps, her body not heeding her commands. And she falls._

Emerald eyes flashed open only to see the familiar sight of her ceiling. Sighing, Ryoma clambered off her bed, noting her drenched pajamas and crumpled sheets. She had had the same dreams for weeks already. Was it those prophecy dreams that Rena always talked about? If so, she was most definitely going to consult her. It was her expertise after all. The first rays of the morning finally penetrated through the thick curtains and landed on her face, and reluctantly she made her way to the bathroom. It was after all, her first day at her new school and it was never a good idea to be late on the first day.

Hirashi High was a very rich school indeed. It was so rich to the point that it seemed ridiculous. Why couldn't the school be nice and small? Ryoma had near zero sense of direction but she was unashamed to admit it. However, the school spanning over such a large area certainly did not help her in her demise. She walked for another ten minutes, and decided that the notion of being on time for lessons on the first day of school could go to hell and instead chose to settle under a particularly large tree.

Luckily for her, she sensed Rena's presence not long after (Rena was probably spreading her powers like a fine net over the campus to look for her) and responded positively with her own. Minutes later the said girl appeared before her with an almost exasperated look on her face.

Almost exasperated, because if it was any one but Ryoma looking at her, one could never tell. But she had been with her long enough to notice the upturn of her lips, and the look in her eyes.

"I can't believe I waste my powers to look for you." Huffing, the raven haired girl grabbed her wrist to pull her up.

"It isn't my fault that the school's too big for its own good." Ryoma mumbled. "And you could have offered to meet me at the gate."

"I'm not your baby sitter unfortunately." Tugging on her sleeves, Rena guided her towards the direction of the main office. "Though I must say, there are quite a lot of power users in this school."

"Really?" Now that was interesting. It wasn't as though they had never met similar power users before, but it was rare. And to think that there were a number congregated in this school…

"Quite a few responded to my power this morning." A pristine white building came into view as Rena spoke. "And here we are."

When they reported their names to the lady at the reception counter, they were handed two thick set of paperwork and ushered to a nearby office. The principal had requested to talk to them, apparently. After 5 minutes, Ryoma decided that she might as well tell Rena about her recent reoccurring dreams, but just as she was about to open her mouth, the office door creaked open and a lady with waist length hair entered.

Ryoma's eyes widened.

"Hello there." If she had seen the shock look on Ryoma's face, she had decided to ignore it. "I'm the principal of Higashi High, Sumire Ryuzaki. Nice to meet you."

Rena returned her greetings carefully, and nudged Ryoma when she did not.

"Ryoma?"

"Why in the world is the lady in my dreams appearing right in front of me!" Ryoma had the decency to gape.

"What dream?" The principal mused.

"My dream! And as it wasn't enough that your face is invading the privacy of my dreams you are planning to invade my real life privacy as well?" Ryoma was livid. That dream had cost her many sleepless nights and rude awakening. And anything that disturbed her food and sleep was recognized by her to be severe enough to break out of her cold and calm character.

"I am afraid that I have no idea what you are talking about." The principal was staring at Ryoma now with a mix of confusion and amusement. _Neither did she_, Rena thought.

"You do!" Annoyed over days of terrible sleep, Ryoma decided to throw in the final blow. "Old hag!"

One could hear something snapping after that comment.

Silently, Rena face palmed. And wondered why in the world was she her friend in the first place.

OOOO

On the other side of the school, far far away from the wrath of the principal, lessons were going on as usual. Only this time, the usually silent and obedient class was filled with murmurs and whispers about the two new transfer students they were going to receive on that day.

"_I heard that both of them are like oriental beauties from the east!" "Really? My friend told me that they are daughters of yakuza who almost killed the students in their previous school!" "Oh my beautiful and dangerous!"_

Really now, that was most definitely blowing things out of proportion, Fuji mused. Prior to their arrival, he had read up on their profiles and reports (he most definitely had his sources) and they were nothing but ordinary. No bad records, no fights, just two profiles of two very ordinary girls. They hadn't include their pictures in the profiles, so he had no ways of judging them by the looks, but from what he had read, they were far from what the rumours made them out to be.

That being said, that extraordinary display of power this morning was a contradiction. The power was most definitely not from someone from their school, for he knows all those who held such powers. It was skillfully controlled and without a superior sense one would never had noticed. He could only hope that it belonged to the new transfer students. It would be most disappointing should it be just the random display of power by a passerby. Fuji was, after all, looking for some fun in this seemingly boring school life.

Yukimura was positive that the aura his best friend was giving off was an indication that he was up to something. He had not seen Fuji in such a mood for quite some time since their last mission. He hoped that whoever the new transfer students were, they would not disappoint his friend, for a disappointed Fuji was a scary one indeed.

It was not as though he couldn't understand what Fuji was feeling. It had been boring for the past few weeks. Not that he didn't appreciate the peace, or that he liked to fight particularly, but somehow this stretch of so called peace was like a clam before the storm. It was making him very uncomfortable indeed.

Higashi High, much unknown to the public, had a special stream for selected students, which consisted of special classes in the afternoons and even more special projects. Many of the students believed that it was for academically gifted students, to give them an even greater head start into college and university, but they were far from the truth.

Higashi High, in secret, was a battle training school for power users. Only people who are able to use their powers are selected into the stream, and afternoon lessons are held to teach them combat skills and to enhance their control over their powers. Projects often include missions that require the use of their powers.

Fuji was looking forward to their lessons later that day. If his intuition was right, he would be meeting the two new transfer students in the afternoon.

As Fuji let out an almost undistinguishable chuckle, Yukimura let out a sigh.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

I do not own Prince of Tennis! :D

This story is inspired by and dedicated to a precious friend of mine, who happens to like the YukimuraxFemRyoma pair! Do enjoy! And I have always loved supernatural stories.

(If you are interested it was inspired by Dance of Destiny by lifeparadox! Now you know why it seems similar in the way both seems to be talking about supernatural powers. I did ask for permission to use her idea of the supernatural powers, but am going to develop my characters/ idea of powers differently. It's definitely going to be different I assure you!)

I welcome criticisms and constructive comments. If you like the story, do leave an encouraging note as well ^^

Love,

Xrange


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